OSSE awards Scholarship for Opportunities and Results (SOAR) Act Facilities grants to public charter local education agencies (LEAs) through a competitive process. Awarded projects must: 1) increase the total number of seats available at a high-quality charter school, and/or 2) increase the quality of existing seats at a high-quality charter school.
FY23 Awardees
- Washington Latin PCS | $683,043.80
- Center City PCS | $683,043.80
- Washington Yu Ying PCS | $683,043.80
- Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS | $683,043.80
- Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS | $464,957.93
- KIPP DC PCS | $660,275.67
Project Descriptions
Washington Latin PCS – Requested $750,000.00
Grant funds will go a long way to optimize the outdoor learning space in Washington Latin’s tight urban environment. Exterior improvements will enable Washington Latin to maximize space that will serve approximately 900 people by 2029, including 728 students and more than 100 faculty and administrators. Exterior enhancements will afford flexibility that proved beneficial during the pandemic when Latin erected tents on the field to continue outdoor classrooms. Latin will use SOAR funds for exterior improvements at the new campus, including the construction of an outdoor amphitheater and classroom, a fence line with gate access points, and an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp at the main entrance.
Center City PCS – Requested $750,000.00
In summer 2022, Center City announced the purchase of a stand-alone warehouse in Northeast DC to create a living, learning laboratory for 1,400 of our students and thousands more public school students across the District. Center City has filed for a building permit to renovate the building, and in fall 2024, plans to launch a state of the art, 20,000-square-foot STEAM makerspace at the site. The new facility will feature dedicated lab spaces for robotics and computer science; multimedia production; fabrication and engineering; science and medicine; woodworking; textiles and sewing; and general innovation. When fully operational, the new makerspace will regularly serve 1,400 Center City students and provide access to thousands more K-12 public school students through regular field trips and special programming.
Washington Yu Ying PCS – Requested $750,000.00
Washington Yu Ying will construct an Early Learning Campus (ELC) 0.2 miles from the current campus in Ward 5. Washington Yu Ying’s ELC will open in the 2024-25 school year and will give more students, particularly those designated as at-risk, access to Yu Ying's unique and highly successful program. Three hundred and seventy-eight students in grades pre-K 3, pre-K 4 and kindergarten will be located there and grades 1-5 will remain on our current campus at 220 Taylor St. NE.
Washington Yu Ying’s unique partnership with Latin will provide students in all grades at Yu Ying with access to a variety of additional learning spaces in the existing 49,950-square-foot building. Latin and Yu Ying are working to imagine larger shared spaces to support athletics, arts, performances and learning. The plans to renovate spaces within the current Kirov facility are still in development but are currently contemplating a library, dance and performance space, multi-use black box-style theater and small indoor gym areas, which will maximize affordability for both schools. The larger areas will support their commitment to arts-based learning and give lovely spaces for their Lunar New Year performances and after school showcases.
The location will also address the need for high-quality pre-K through grade 5 seats in Ward 5 for all students, but particularly at-risk students and those seeking a bilingual education. With expansion, Washington Yu Ying will be able to fill more early action seats and give our students the use of educational amenities across two campuses.
Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS– Requested $750,000.00
Mundo Verde intends to utilize SOAR Facilities funds to construct 8-10 new classrooms and develop additional outdoor learning spaces at 817 Varnum St. NE, a plot of land within the Calle Ocho Campus in the Michigan Park residential community.
Mundo Verde's existing building at 4401 Eighth St. NE spans 41,700 square feet and comprises 21 classrooms. While the building is in good condition, it requires some investment to ensure fidelity to Mundo Verde's educational model, including sustainability features and the addition of a commercial-grade teaching and demonstration kitchen. Additionally, upgrades are necessary for life safety features such as fire alarm, sprinkler and elevator systems. Mundo Verde's plan includes constructing new classrooms on the existing foundation of 817 Varnum St. and incorporating sustainability features, high ceilings, large windows and Latin American-inspired colors to enhance the learning environment. All classrooms will have direct access to outdoor areas, connecting students with nature.
Together, the two buildings will accommodate the necessary enrollment growth to expand the Calle Ocho Campus. With 30 classrooms in total, there will be ample space for special services pull-out sessions and intervention programs. The project also includes sitework to optimize outdoor spaces for student use, including hardscape, landscaping, learning gardens, outdoor classrooms, spaces for physical activity and the installation of security perimeter fences. The envisioned outdoor space will evolve into a nature-centric area with outdoor classrooms, edible garden beds, fruit trees and bushes, and dedicated spaces for cooking and gardening classes. Ultimately, the grounds will transform into a farmyard for play and learning, featuring structures for play, physical activity and engaging students in natural life cycles.
Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS – Requested $510,536.00
Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School (TMA) is located in Ward 8 in a century-old, Italian Renaissance-style red brick building that has been a historic community landmark in Anacostia for decades. With 19 spacious classrooms, three science labs, a library and a lecture-hall-style moot courtroom that is designed to support their law-themed programming, all rooms are equipped for seamless technology integration in instruction. For TMA to excel in their mission of preparing students to be college-ready, they believe improvements and upgrades to their heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and associated control systems must be made. Based on the assessment completed by Hayat Brown LLC in 2018, the HVAC system is nearing the end of its useful life in 2023. The project will include a complete rewiring of currently disparate systems onto one centralized control system with associated software that will allow operations and facilities staff to better monitor, adjust and otherwise control climate throughout the building.
KIPP DC PCS – Requested $725,000.00
At approximately 140,000 square feet, the Douglass Campus is KIPP DC's largest campus. It is a beautiful former DCPS school (Frederick Douglass) in the heart of Ward 8 and is among KIPP DC's most in-demand campuses; KIPP serves more than 1,200 students at this site, from pre-K 3 through grade 8. However, it is also one of their oldest campuses and in need of some important and valuable updates- especially in the area of door hardware, which has been a consistent pain point for staff, students, families and the building's facilities team.
KIPP is seeking grant funding to address the safety-related concerns of staff, families and students by improving the physical security and robustness of interior and exterior doors. They are proposing to replace the doors of 75 spaces (classrooms, offices, conference rooms, etc.) at the Douglass Campus with new high-quality, high-durability doors and accompanying high-quality, high-durability door hardware (locks and handles, hinges and closers), as well as making repairs and fortifications to door frames where necessary. KIPP is also proposing to replace all exterior doors to the building with new high-quality, high-durability doors and accompanying high-quality, high-durability door hardware (including center mullions, locks, hinges, etc.). Finally, KIPP is proposing to replace all interior stairwell doors and doors to large spaces (gym, cafeteria, auditorium) with new high-quality, high-durability doors as well as accompanying high-quality, high-durability door hardware.